Sherita Brewer came to Gary for a job and found a mission.
While she describes herself as an introvert, there’s nothing reticent about her as she talks about Sojourner Truth House and what it does for the women and children served.
She’s animated, enthusiastic and optimistic as she describes her path to the women’s day shelter that serves an average of more than 2,100 clients monthly.
From her cluttered cubby hole in the far corner of Sojourner Truth House’s cavernous center of operations – once a parochial school gymnasium – Brewer organizes fundraisers, schedules conferences, arranges meetings with potential donors and plans the annual volunteer appreciation dinner. Whatever she’s doing, though, the focus is the clients. Her own life experience drives her.
Brewer is the development services manager for the day shelter operated by Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ at 13th Avenue and Madison Street. A native of Fort Wayne, she arrived in Gary about four years ago because she needed a job and the Boys and Girls Club hired her. In 2013, she joined Sojourner Truth House and discovered a deep connection to the people it serves.
“Homelessness is a dirty word. It’s icky,” Brewer said. “But homelessness looks like us when we look in the mirror. The impression of homelessness is that people did something wrong to get there. But the reality is most regular people are just a few paychecks away from total disaster.”
When her car broke down, Brewer called her brother for help. It wasn’t easy to have to ask, but she had somewhere to turn. Not everyone is so lucky, Brewer said, citing a client whose experience could have been her own.
The woman had a job as a certified nurse aide, but when her car faltered and she didn’t have money to repair it, she couldn’t get to work. Quickly, her utilities were shut off and she was evicted. She showed up at Sojourner Truth House at the end of the day when most of the staff was gone. Brewer found a shelter for the woman that night. And with help from those at Sojourner Truth, she is in her own home, supporting herself.
“That little girl was in a shelter because her car broke down. That’s what I want people to know. Yes, maybe they’ve made some bad choices, or suffer mental illness or abused drugs. Or maybe it’s a consequence of life,” Brewer said.
At Sojourner Truth House, women in need can get clothing, food and personal items such as soap and deodorant. But they will also need to obtain a diploma or GED, study financial responsibility and explore job training options. “We want them to stand tall, but they have a responsibility to be vested in their own healing,” Brewer said. “They need to be self-sustainable.”
Even as she talks about the goals and accomplishments of the coworkers and clients around her, Brewer’s fundraising skills are never lost.
The donation of a bottle of dish soap on sale at the drug store may be just a 99-cent purchase for most people, she noted. But for the woman who selects it during her once-every-90-day visit for personal items, it might be the soap that cleans dishes, hair, kids, clothes and anything else. “Imagine a world where you have this one bottle,” Brewer said. “So if you give me $10,000, I will be eternally grateful. And if you give me $10, I will be eternally grateful. And if you see that soap on sale and buy a few bottles, then drop them off when you can, I will be eternally grateful.”
Brewer’s family often visited relatives here when she was a child. She enjoyed shopping for school clothes downtown. It’s different here, now, and she is “disappointed to see Gary as it is.”
But she likes it here.
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“I came because I needed a job but I stay because I feel I’m needed,” she said.